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Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for November 2023 addressed 63 new vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows and Windows Components; Exchange Server; Office and Office Components; ASP.NET and .NET Framework; Azure; Mariner; Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), Visual Studio, and Windows Hyper-V.
The IT giant has addressed vulnerabilities with different severity ratings. Three are Critical, 56 are Important, and four are Moderate.
Three of these vulnerabilities are actively exploited in attacks in the wild:
CVE-2023-36033 – Windows DWM Core Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Attackers can use a vulnerability in the Windows Desktop Manager (DWM) to gain higher privileges. By exploiting this flaw, they can obtain SYSTEM privileges. If combined with a remote code execution bug, this can fully compromise a system.
CVE-2023-36036 – Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
A flaw in this driver can be abused by an attacker to get SYSTEM privileges. This driver is used to manage files stored in the cloud and is loaded by default on many versions of Windows, making it an easy target for attacks. The post by ZDI mentions that this bug is probably used together with a code execution bug in attacks.
CVE-2023-36025 – Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
An attacker can use this flaw to bypass Windows Defender SmartScreen checks and other prompts. This flaw can be used in phishing campaigns to avoid warnings about opening a malicious document.
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The main issue fixed by Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday security updates for November 2023 is a Remote Code Execution vulnerability in Windows PGM (Pragmatic General Multicast). This flaw, identified as CVE-2023-36397 (CVSS 9.8), allows an attacker to execute code with higher privileges without needing user interaction.
The full list of vulnerabilities addressed by Microsoft for November 2023 is available here.
